Preggo mind story

Something like this happens nearly everyday, so I thought I'd write one down so I don't forget it later.

I was in the kitchen starting to fold laundry when I though, "Boy, some music would be nice. I think I'll turn on Pandora."

So I headed over to the computer (less than 20 ft away) and sat down and saw the recipe I had just pulled up for supper before starting to fold the clothes. I had no idea why I had just sat down at the computer.

My mind wandered a bit and I decided to look up another recipe for dessert while I was there. I found one I liked and headed back into the kitchen to make sure I had all the ingredients.

After doing that I saw the pile of clothes and remembered that I was folding clothes and needed to finish the pile. I picked up a shirt and thought, "Boy, some music would be nice. I think I'll ... oh, good grief."

The rest of the story is that I have yet to turn on Pandora and am blogging about the whole deal instead.

"Boy, some music ......."

Praying for Papaw

Hi blogger friends. Join me in praying for my Papaw like we did last summer when he went through his first chemo treatments. The cancer has been acting up again and these new 3-day treatments are pretty hard on his system, but seem to be working. He's been on tubal feeding for a few weeks now, so pray that he'll be able to eat on his own again soon. This is day two of his second 3-day treatment since the beginning of June. I visited with him some this morning, and he sounded pretty good! He said he was feeling better today, so we're grateful for that! I'll get to spend about a week in Searcy after the 4th of July, so I'm looking forward to spending some quality time with Mamaw and Papaw!

Thanks everybody. God is faithful!

Four years old

Happy birthday, my oldest son! It's been an exciting four years!

June 20, 2004 - 8 lbs, 4 oz - 20 1/2 in
June 20, 2008 - 38 lbs - 39 in

The Diego cake he asked for.

I'm four!

The Larry Boy cake he also asked for--made by Terry Dean!

I can't get him to take this off!

Singing tonight!

It's a little late notice for today, but if you're around town and free tonight, John and I are singing tonight with Danny at KE Cellars, right across from the mall!

Some wedding pics

Here are just a few pictures from the wedding weekend:

Yet another Johnathan funny

"Mommy, Uncle Kreg is hilarious. That's Spanish for 'really funny.'"

Can you guess what song this is?

Elizabeth had a funny blog about Ashlyn singing and it inspired me to post one of Kalleigh's songs ... in her words of course. Do any of you speak Toddler?

Itto, itto, itto tah
Ah wah wuh wuh wuh wuh wah.
Up pup pup pup wuh wuh high.
Yop pup dah pup pup pup sigh.
Itto, itto, itto tah
Ah wah wuh wuh wuh wuh wah.

I have yet to capture this on video, for of course she sings it all day long, but clams up when I bring out the camera!

We moved Kalleigh in with Johnathan since we've been back from CO. While there, she and Johnathan shared a room and she slept on a twin bed, so I figured that even if she's a little young, now would be a good time to do it since she was already out of the crib routine. So far, they both have done really well! And now I can work on that nursery!!

The wedding weekend

Well, it's official. They're Mr. and Mrs. Kreg Kell. What a beautiful wedding, too! Beautiful people inside and out, beautiful chapel, beautiful music, beautiful dresses, beautiful flowers ... oh so beautiful!

We stayed with our friends, John and Kisti, while we were there. It was so fun to get to see them (a little!) and catch up. They are some of those friends where you pick up right where you left off. I think it had been almost three years since we had seen them! Thank goodness for blogger land! Kisti was amazing and cooked really yummy breakfasts for us each morning and they even helped with our kids when we needed! Thanks again, Kisti, for being such a wonderful hostess!

Danny came with us to play at the wedding and reception, so with three drivers, we figured we could drive through the night. We left at 10pm Wednesday night and got in around 11am (mountain time) the next morning. The kids did great, and we drivers survived. :)

The weekend was jam-packed with luncheons, dress fittings, last-minute errands (i.e. getting John a suit to wear since he was the officiant!), general "beautifying", eating (and eating and eating), partying, rehearsing, setting up for the reception and trying to keep the kids on some sort of schedule so they wouldn't be absolute monsters at the wedding! We were all honored by having various roles in the wedding. As mentioned before, Danny played the piano as well as being the emcee for the reception, John officiated and sang the song for their first dance, I was a bridesmaid and got to sing a song with Kristi at the wedding as well as some other songs at the reception, Johnathan was the ring bearer (though I don't think he actually carried anything!), and Kalleigh was a flower girl. The children did just fine, minus a little meltdown when they got down to the front, but at least they did make it down the incredibly long aisle holding hands and bow in place.

And Keleigh was absolutely stunning! Of course, you didn't even have to see her to know that. All you had to do was to look at Kreg's face!

The quote of the trip, though, came from Johnathan as we were coming out of Raton pass and caught our first glimpse of snow-capped mountains (said with much volume and enthusiasm): "Colorado! We're comin' to ya!"

So, yes, it's official. I have the best sister-in-law in the whole world!

Father, bless Kreg and Keleigh in their journey together. Show them how to love like you love us. Help them to continue to seek you and long for you more than they long for each other. Make their paths straight and keep them strong and continue to shower them with blessings their whole lives! Through Jesus, Amen.

Thoughts as the third trimester begins.

Hooray! I passed my gestational diabetes test today!

Bummer. I've already gained all the weight I'm supposed to ... for the whole pregnancy.

Hooray! Less than three months to go!

Bummer. Everyone else I know who is pregnant will have their babies before I do.

Hooray! I have the whole summer to spend quality time with only two kids!

Bummer. I have absolutely zero energy to do anything.

Hooray! The pools are opening around here this week!

Bummer. That maternity swim suit just is not flattering one bit.

Hooray! I'm sleeping great these days!

Hooray! I have everything I need for the cute cowboy nursery!

Hooray! The baby is very active and seems to be totally healthy!

Hooray! I will hold this little boy in my arms before the summer is over!


Okay, good. There are more hoorays than bummers. It's good to remind myself of that every now and then. :)

A week from now ...

... my baby brother will be married!

I still remember when ...

... Mom told me that we were going to have another baby and asking me if that was okay! (I said yes.)
... Kristi and I went to the hospital to see our new baby brother.
... I caught him sitting on the counter (18 mo?) stuffing two more chocolate oatmeal cookies into his already full and chocolate-covered mouth.
... he yelled "Cowabunga Dude!" before 'flying' off the monkey bars at preschool--because he truly believed he could fly--and coming home with a broken arm.
... our family would go to soccer games to watch Kreg dribble the ball down and score every time w while all the other little boys would just try to keep up.
... he got third degree burns trying to walk the dog too close to the grill.
... he walked into a swinging baseball bat.
... he fell down an elevator shaft and had staples put in his head.
... he would keep up with me when I was in high school going on several mile jogs ... and he was still in elementary school
.... Papaw Kell baptized him at College Church.
... he told me about his first kiss.
... he helped his football team win the state championship by throwing the winning touchdown.
... he changed my son's diaper.
... he became the second in our immediate family to be a long jump state champion.
... I told him about a cute little girl that I had coached in CO who would be coming to Harding and that they should at least meet.
... we took his senior trip to Destin and all had a time to preach at him. I told him that the woman he married needed to be someone that we actually liked. ;)
... he told me on April 10, 2007 that this Keleigh Good girl might really be "the one!"
... he sent me a message on June 12, 2007 with a picture of the ring he intended to buy.
... he called right after the surprise proposal.

I also remember when ...
... I was told about this family moving to Colorado Springs who had three daughters and they thought that they might play basketball.
... I met Keleigh and how I thought how polite and mature she was for being just 14 (15?).
... Keleigh led her team with unquenchable spirit and sacrificial commitment, and then found out after the season that she had probably had mono the whole season.
... John and I talked about how we wanted to do parenting like the Goods did.
... I showed her a picture of my "little brother."
... I found out she was going to Harding, and I told her to at least meet Kreg and just make the connection between us.
... Kevin (Keleigh's dad) agreed to be my assistant coach in basketball--yea!
... Kevin told me that Keleigh had told him that Kreg had opened the Bible building door for her and not realized it was her.
... Kevin told me that Keleigh had told him that she had to crawl over Kreg at church to get to her seat ... and he didn't realize it was her.

And now we're one week out. What a precious couple! I thank God for bringing Kreg and Keleigh together! I couldn't have hand-picked any better!

The gash

It's one of those times where you have to make the call ... do I go or do I stay? If I go, is to the ER or the doctor? And if I go, what 12 things have to be done before I can just drop everything and go? It's a logistical nightmare. Oh, plus your child's head is bleeding. Quick! Make a decision!

We decided to stay, and I think it was the right choice. Here's the story:

On Tuesday, Johnathan was taking his afternoon nap. Well, he was supposed to be sleeping, but that's another story. Kalleigh had already woken up from hers and was playing nicely on her own. I was at the kitchen table going through the mail. I heard her climb up on the little stool in their bathroom and say, "Boo!" over and over. I went in to check on her and she was playing "Peek-a-boo" with herself in the mirror. Pretty cute. I smiled to myself and headed back to the kitchen.

A few more "Boo!"s and then I heard the stool move suddenly, then a THUD, then much screaming. "Aww, that'll leave a nice bump," I thought.

When I got in there, her poor little feet were still propped up on the stool and she was lying on her back on the floor with her head against the wall. I scooped her up and immediately felt for the knot. Good, there it was. Better out than in. :) We got the "Boo Bunny" (the washcloth that is shaped to look like a bunny that wraps around a piece of ice to put on the "boo-boo") and I held that against the knot for awhile.

I noticed that her diaper was soaked, so I took her into her room to change her. As I laid her down on the changing table, I noticed that there was some blood on my hand and arm and a little smudged on her leg, too. "What in the world?" I thought. I hadn't seen any blood in the bathroom. Maybe she bit her lip? But no; that wasn't it. I didn't see anything else immediately, so I finished changing her.

When I picked her up, there was a nice approximately 4"x 2" area of blood where her head had been. Yikes! I turned her around, and sure enough, there on the back of her head was a nice big area of matted hair that had mixed with the blood, but had all but stopped the bleeding. I took her in and tried to wash the blood out of her hair so I could see the wound better.

And there it was. The gash was open about an eighth of an inch and was close to 3/4 of an inch long. I even measured it with a ruler! There was no way I would be able to keep that together with all that hair. But again, the bleeding had almost stopped and I couldn't see the skull or anything, plus she was starting to calm down and her pupils were normal--no concussion.

We had come to the decision point. To go or not to go. What do you do? Call Mom! Mom has had a few experiences with head wounds, mostly Kreg's. From him walking into a swinging baseball bat to falling down an elevator shaft and needing staples, Mom was the one to call. In an attempt to avoid sounding panicked, I unnaturally calmly explained the situation. We agreed that if I took her in, they would probably put a couple of stitches in, but that the trauma of the whole ordeal probably would have been worse than the trauma of having a scar on the back of her head. Mom talked a little to Kalleigh on the phone, which helped her calm down a little, too. Yea for Nana!

Kalleigh has been an absolute trooper through this whole mess. Thankfully, it doesn't seem to bother her one bit, and she's doing totally fine.

Here's a picture of the wound about 28 hours after it happened.



I never found any blood in the bathroom, which seemed strange to me. The wall by the bathtub sticks out a bit, so I think she must've hit her head on the shoe molding that comes to a point the corner of that wall. But still, no blood? Weird.

Another crazy day in the life of a toddler!

The summer is here

Johnathan's last day of preschool was today. He has learned so much this year! They had a little picnic lunch and then played some games. His teacher handed out little certificates to all of them and then they had some yummy snacks. Where was my camera? At home, of course. I amaze myself.

But it's starting to get pretty hot. Too hot for picnics outside, that's for sure! And though the actual beginning of summer isn't for another month, it's summer here in Tyler.

I'm off to get a refill of ice water ... again ... followed shortly thereafter by a run to potty ... again, as I'm pretty sure Jonas is turning head down these days. Just three more months ... Three more hot, sticky, humid ......... can we say POOL PLEASE?!?

Mothers ... Part 2

Thanks to Mom for such a wonderful comment! And thanks to so many of you who commented as well and showed you love for my mom!

The other part of Mother's Day I wanted to share was the questionnaire that Johnathan did at school. Not bad, Son!

(Johnathan's answers in bold.)

My mother is as pretty as a rainbow.
My mother is 16 years old.
My mother weighs 60 pounds.
My mother's favorite color is pink.
My mother's favorite food is cereal and eggs.
My mother's favorite drink is orange juice.
My mother's favorite TV show is Veggie Tales.
My mother's favorite store is Wal-Mart.
My mother's favorite animal is a dog.
My mother's favorite restaurant is Sonic.
My mother is special to me because she helps me.

I love my mom!

Mom entered a new phase of life this week: KID-FREE! An exciting time, of course. A time of self-redefinition. A time for new opportunities. A time not to have to provide for anyone else.

And just like any season of change ... I'm sure it's hard! I mean, she's been doing this parenting thing for 29 years without a break! And for that season to be over? I've been doing the parenting thing for almost four years, and it's so hard to try to imagine a season beyond that!

And just like any season of change ... she enters it with grace and determination. I think she's going to wear "empty nest" just beautifully! This season isn't going to change, so we might as well look pretty. :)

And just like any season of change ... she walks through it with God as her guide. Many unknowns out there! Questions such as, "What now?" are not weighted down with worry and self-pity, but are directed to God with faith that He gives answers!

Thank you, God, for my mom! And thank you, Mom, for being you! I love you!

Curls

Oh, her precious curls!

Sometimes he knows just what to say

So I went to pick up the kids after praise team rehearsal last night. I walked in the room and both kids yell, "Mommy!" and head my direction.

Then Johnathan turns to the babysitter and says, "See? It's Mommy! Isn't she pretty?"

My son could do no wrong the rest of the evening.

It's probably time ...

... for a belly shot. Clearly Vocal took new pictures the other day, mostly to get some good head shots, but we got a few full shots, too. Here are Jonas and me--about 5 1/2 months. :)

To see the new CV head shots, just click here!

April summary

It's hard to believe that April is over already. We packed it to the limit with fun activities! It's been too overwhelming to blog about, as I saw that I used my only three April blogs to get away from our hectic month! But as some are interested, I'll make a nice, clean list of the things that demanded our time.

• We added a fifth person to Clearly Vocal. Don is a super second bass and doing a great job. We sing tomorrow night for the first time as a five-person group, so we've been rehearsing once or twice a week all month to get ready for that. We also recorded a few sound clips for our Clearly Vocal website. You can also click on the player on this blog to hear them! We're hoping to take some group and individual shots tomorrow night when we sing to update the website pics, too.
• The spring Children's Clothing Consignment Sale was the second weekend in April, so I spent a lot of time gathering together things to sell and going through the painful process of rummaging through the attic to gather up things to sell and then ironing, safety-pinning, tagging and labeling each of these items. The fantastic part is that you just drop the stuff off and you never have to think about it again! If it doesn't sell, you can either go pick it back up or if you don't, they'll donate it to Goodwill! We get 70% of the selling price, and I received my check in the mail just this past weekend. :)
• Kreg and Keleigh came to visit that same weekend, so we got together with Danny and worked on some of their wedding music. We also got to get out and ride the horses a little bit as well as enjoy a yummy dinner and Danny's entertainment at Pico de Gallo! We're excited to head back to CO for their wedding in just a month!
• John finished up the taxes--yea, Honey!--and we got that refund deposited into our account just recently. I'm mostly excited because that finished up our saving up money for paying for the baby delivery! It's going to be so great to bring little Jonas home and not owe a dime for it!
• Our last Ladies' Bible Class meeting was on the 15th. Our study focused on the bride of Christ relationship, so we had a wedding ceremony of sorts with a reception to follow, complete with vows, a unity candle, "the kiss" (okay, it was a Hershey's kiss), punch, cake and finger foods. I made three cakes, but they didn't turn out as well as I had hoped. They sure tasted good, though!
• A friend from church owns a weight-loss center and hired me to scrap and frame 5 12x12 layouts featuring her top five before and after pictures of her clients. She wanted to put them on her main wall in her clinic and title it "Wall of Success," so of course, she also wanted me to scrap and frame a title to go over the other 5 frames. This was a bigger job than I expected, but I really enjoyed stretching my creative limits and thought that the project turned out well. Apparently, she liked them, because she hired me again to scrap two poster-sized layouts of before and after pictures so that she could set them on easels and take them to conventions with her! Those were "due" the day after the Ladies' Bible Class last day!
• Our praise team had a Vocal Aerobics seminar on a Friday night and Saturday morning, the 18th and 19th. It's exactly as it sounds: exercises for the voice! We learned a lot about the different ranges and how best to sing in each range, how to find your different lifts and a great way to determine voice part. It was great! Our dear friends, JC and Terry kept our children overnight for us, so after the seminar Friday night, John and I caught a late movie!
• Johnathan's school had Rodeo Roundup, the annual two-day event where we celebrate Texas and all the western stuff that goes with it. I was in charge of getting the petting zoo and pony rides there and making sure we had plenty of volunteers to man the stations. No problem. Then, as I did last year, I made a PowerPoint thanking all of our sponsors and ran it on a continuous loop throughout the event. Thanks to John for helping me set up the projector! As if that wasn't enough excitement, on day two, the gym started smelling like smoke so badly that we had to evacuate and call the fire department! Thankfully, there was never any smoke or fire. The firemen said it had something to do with overworked heaters, but that there was no threat of a fire. And the day went on as planned.
• And we had a ladies' night out that night and laughed and laughed until my already stretched tummy tendons were hurting!
• The youth group's annual auction was just this past Sunday, and I was on the decorating committee. So we met once to divide out responsibilities, and basically mine was to get the appropriate announcements in the bulletin and to help decorate on the Saturday before. I succeeded at taking care of the announcements, but failed miserably on the decorating part, which leads me to the next activity ...
• Last weekend, John and I went to the Denton Arts and Jazz Festival. The kids stayed at Dad's house and had fun while John and I were able to enjoy the festival kid-free! There were some amazing groups that performed and some beautiful artwork from jewelry to pottery to watercolors to photography. I walked over to a pottery booth and out of instinct picked up a pitcher. The potter grinned and said, "Now you look like you need ANOTHER pitcher to add to your collection!" He totally hit the nail on the head! I reluctantly, but stubbornly put the pitcher down and picked up a pie plate instead! I have it on display in my kitchen. :) While in Dallas, we were able to take home my new nursery bedding that I had won on eBay and that Dad had picked up for me! I can't wait to set it all up, but I think we're going to have to wait until sometime this summer before we kick Kalleigh out, I mean, move her into her big girl bed and share a room with Johnathan!
• My most recent project was a diaper cake that I made for one of my good friend's baby shower coming up the Sunday. Now you know I really wanted to do that project, since it is already done. Otherwise, I would have probably stayed up all night the night before. Hooray for doing ONE of the projects this month ahead of time!

Okay, the list was not as neat as I intended, but as you can see, we did have a few thing going on. In no way am I complaining about having too much to do! I agreed to or volunteered for each of these, and it's been a really fulfilling month! No, I wouldn't want every month to be quite that crazy, but every now and then, it's nice to know you're still alive. :)

Here comes May ... !

"That doesn't match."

So we're at the dinner table eating together as a family. Here's how the conversation went between my son and me:

Johnathan, looking at the platter full of steak: Mommy, is that a bull?
Me: Well, yeah, maybe ... or a cow. It's either a bull or a cow.
Johnathan, now looking at me as if I had just said something completely ridiculous: What? That doesn't match.
Me: What are you talking about?
Johnathan: Like is it a bull or a plate?
Me: Oooohhhhh! A BOWL!
(much laughter from John and me)
Johnathan: Yeah, a bull! (at least that's what it sounded like)
Me: Son, it's a platter. The steak is on a platter. It's neither a bowl nor a plate.
Johnathan: Yeah, that matches.

John and I got so tickled about this conversation later that we were just howling with laughter! Johnathan must have thought I had totally lost my mind! He heard, "It's either a bowl or a cow!" No wonder he gave me such a funny look!

One Word

This was on Sandi's blog, and looked fun. Feel free to copy and paste with your own one-word descriptions!

1. Where is your cell phone? close
2. Your significant other? thorough
3. Your hair? pony-tail
4. Your mother? strong
5. Your father? giving
6. Your favorite thing? offspring
7. Your dream last night? forgotten
8. Your favorite drink? Dr. Pepper
9. Your goal or dream? Create
10. The room you're in? Bedroom
11. Your kids? Energetic
12. Your fear? Snakes
13. Where do you want to be in 6 years? Non-pregnant
14. Where were you last night? Church
15. What you're not? Non-pregnant
16. Muffins? Butavan
17. One of your wish list items? Manicure
18. Where you grew up? Searcy
19. The last thing you did ? Email
20. What are you wearing? Maternity
21. Your TV? On
22. Your pets? Pugs
23. Your computer? On
24. Your life? Changing
25. Your mood? Optimistic
26. Missing someone? Family
27. Your car? Mini-van
28. Something you're not wearing? Watch
29. Favorite Store? Scrap
30. Your summer? Pregnant
31. Like someone? John
32. Your favorite color? Red
33. When is the last time you laughed? Supper
34. Last time you cried? Forgot
35. The person who sent this to you? Sandi
36. Who will/would resend this? Unimportant
37. A good book? Sudoku ;)
38. A good movie? Shawshank
39. A good song? Bubbly
40. One word to share? Rejoice